Measles killed 1,200 that wanted vaccinations

Madagascar measles epidemic

While the gang of anti-vaxxing morons spreads their false propaganda here in the United States, 1.200 have died of the measles in Madagascar where they want but lack the resources to fight the disease. Only 58% have been vaccinated on this poor area of the island, where it's known the immunization rates need to be 90 to 95 percent or higher to prevent outbreaks. But here in the U.S. these flaky anti-vaxxers go on their merry way spreading disease.

Here's the take of the World Health Organization (WHO)...

"The measles outbreak has killed mostly children under age 15 since it began in September. The epidemic unfortunately continues to expand in size though at a slower pace than a month ago," said Dr. Dossou Vincent Sodjinou, a WHO epidemiologist in Madagascar.

Further, "By mid-March, 117,075 cases had been reported by the health ministry, affecting all regions of the country." Added to this is the fact that Madagascar is a poor nation where 50% of its children are malnourished. Contrast that with the U.S. where there are all the benefits of medical advancement and its availability to the public, and, yet, there are those who spurn this technology to pursue the stupid idea they can do it on their own, thus, endangering their children.

Here's the scenario in Madagascar...

"Simply reaching a clinic for help can be a challenge. Many people in Madagascar cannot afford to see a doctor or buy medicine, and health centers often are understaffed or have poorly qualified workers. As a result, information about health issues can be unreliable. Some parents are not aware that vaccines are free, at least in public health centers."

And yet here in the United States we have all the things these folks from Madagascar don't have, but still opt on the side of stupidity. Pathetic! 

Could Julian Assange U.S. return sink Trump's ship?

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. said following Julian Assange's arrest at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, "He is our property." The agreement was unanimous in Washington...

Julian Assange

"from Congress to the intelligence services. Assange committed the unpardonable sins of embarrassing the establishment — from members of Congress to intelligence officials to the news media."

It's hard for me to understand how anyone could embarrass a Congress consisting of such a gang of idiots. USA Today's take on the Assange case...

"What could be the most important free speech and free press case in our history could well be reduced to the scope and substance of an unauthorized computer access case."

Assange has had his ups and downs with Donald Trump thinking his presidency would benefit him when...

"it was the Trump Administration that sought to redefine WikiLeaks as a 'non-state hostile intelligence service'—an organization that did not belong within the ambit of journalism."

 In 2016 Donald Trump said he loved WikiLeaks, later refuting he knew anything about it. And then Mike Pence adds his usual confusing and laughable comment...

"Trump’s acclaim for an organization his own administration has identified as a cutout of Russian intelligence services was not actually an 'endorsement.'”

Now, doesn't that just out-dumb everything? But it is yet another reminder that we have not one, but two imbeciles in the White House.

The question is why did Equador dump their most prestigious guest? Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno said...

“We’ve ended the asylum of this spoiled brat. From now on we’ll be more careful in giving asylum to people who are really worth it, and not miserable hackers whose only goal is to destabilize governments.”

In turning his tiny office-cum-bedroom into a new headquarters for the WikiLeaks’ operations, he made the mistake of interfering in politics, most importantly "releasing stolen emails related to Hillary Clinton’s campaign." Then he even turned on his host's President Moreno, accusing him of financial irregularity. Assange also abused the very staff that was caring for him and astoundingly spread feces on the walls.

So, the man's a pig and gave up information that was critical to U.S. security, but does he know something that can sink Donald Trump's ship? Assange was very vague when talking to Meghan Kelly in 2016, saying he would release anything he had, adding...

"it's really hard for us to release anything worse than what comes out of Donald Trump's mouth every second day."

The Mueller "shadow" that Trump can't avoid

Donald Trump...Still denying Mueller Report

The Mueller Report is about to be released but Politico says...

"a pair of high-profile new cases surfacing in the past 24 hours signals that the arm of his Russia investigation is long indeed."

They are charges "against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the indictment of former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig." Although not actually connected, the two could add to and tie together many of Robert Mueller's findings. This includes...

"everything from Russian interference in the 2016 election to the hush-money payment scheme Donald Trump’s campaign designed to help sway the last White House race, from the fundraising for Trump’s 2017 inauguration to unregistered foreign lobbyists working in the U.S."

I will be doing a post on Assange's release later, but this shows how there is yet another player in the investigation that will eventually bring Donald Trump to his knees, or lower. Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor from Virginia, describes it as a part of Robert Mueller's tendons that have resulted from his investigation and which branch off into several directions. They include the Justice Department, Eastern District of Virginia, Southern District of New York and Washington D.C.

If the examination of Donald Trump's wrongdoing continues on for months, like National Public Radio reports, how can this country possibly move on ahead and do the job of governing? Congress is already stymied with the "anti-everything" Mitch McConnell heading up the Senate, while Nancy Pelosi does her best to keep the House moving forward. NPR refers to the following cases...

Prosecutors have charged GOP political consultant Roger Stone with obstruction, witness tampering and lying to Congress in connection with his work in 2016 on behalf of Trump's campaign...Attorney General William Barr has come under fire from Democrats for releasing top-line findings tied to Mueller’s work that Trump has used to claim “total EXONERATION” even though the special counsel’s report said no such thing...The case against the Russian company Concord Management and Consulting, which has been linked to Russia's social media disinformation campaign...

There's more you can read in the NPR article, but the gist of all this is that Donald Trump is sitting in the Oval Office just waiting for the shit to hit the fan.

Your Political Bullshit of the Day

TRICKLE DOWN BULLSHIT

The Fox network has talked about US congresswoman AlexandriaOcasio-Cortez for 42 consecutive days, at least 3,181 mentions...NEW YORK'SVACCINE ORDER SHOWS HOW HEALTH LAWS ARE FAILING US...Re. Barr's FBI spying claim, Comey says, he had no idea" what Attorney General William Barr meant when he testified that he believed the government spied on President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign...Donald Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry's retirement connected to father Fred Trump when he illegally evaded taxes in transferring much of his wealth to his children — including both Donald and Maryanne...

Donald Trump just showed how low he'll go on immigration, dropping immigrant families off in sanctuary cities.

From measles to E. coli to a Superbug

Superbug

We've dealt with the backward-thinking anti-vaxxers into an E. coli outbreak and now along comes a superbug that threatens to kill all of us. The CDC says already over 600 are infected in the U.S. It first learned of Candida auris in 2016 with the number of cases now at 617 stretched over New York City, New Jersey and Chicago in the U.S. and another 20 countries worldwide. It appears that "Multiple factors have created the perfect storm" for Candida auris.

What is most scary is the fact that it is potentially a deadly multidrug-resistant fungus and even worse...

"can survive on cooler surfaces like skin, potentially remaining for a long time, enabling it to act more like bacteria than a fungus."

The difficulty in treating Candida auris is identifying the fungus. It requires "specific technology and a culture of blood or other bodily fluids." Because of the colonization of hosts over several months, "perhaps indefinitely," it can...

"spread between people and to various objects over the course of time before entering the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body, causing serious invasive infections such as bloodstream, wound, and ear infections."

“Healthy people typically don’t get infected," but should be very careful around those who are infected, practicing maximum personal hygiene. And here's the real shocker, the CDC reports that "30 to 60% of people who have gotten C. auris have died." In some cases "standard laboratories have trouble identifying the bug and it can sometimes even be misidentified," according to the CDC. But because it affects those in the health care community, there is a need to identify it quickly.

The CDC says the C. auris infection has been diagnosed in people of all ages affecting a wide range of areas and wounds. In other words, the public beware!

Major out break of E. coli in U.S. says CDC

E. coli

First there were the anti-vaxxers, who have spread measles, mumps and chickenpox all around the country with their uninformed and downright stupid opinions that vaccines will cause harm when, in fact, solid science has proven them wrong. There's also a mysterious fungus thriving in the U.S. that we'll address in another post. But today it's all about E. coli that is running amok in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.

Federal health officials have not identified a food item, grocery store or restaurant chain as the source of these infections, claims CNN. It's being investigated by the CDC, state health departments, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service and the US Food and Drug Administration and the mystery of its source is even more troubling. E. coli likely has no connection to measles, but the coincidence of this all at once.

Since no source has been identified, CBS says, "the CDC is not recommending that consumers avoid any particular food item due to E. coli, while health officials continue to investigate the source of the illnesses." Here's what happened in the U.K. in 2015...

"A strain of E. coli became a potentially fatal infection in the UK around 30 years ago, when it acquired a powerful toxin, a gene study has revealed. ... E. coliO157 strains can produce molecules called shiga-toxins, which are linked to more serious human infections."

"Symptoms of HUS include fever, abdominal pain, pale skin tone, fatigue and irritability, unexplained bruises or bleeding from the nose and mouth, and decreased urination. These complications are more common in young children under 5, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems." And there lies my question, people with other diseases have weakened immune systems, thus, they are more prone to E. coli. It could be a vicious circle.

UPDATE: E. coli mystery solved: Ground beef is source of outbreak, CDC says

Racism! Racism! Racism! Will it ever end?

A Louisiana Sheriff Deputy's son, no less, Holden Matthews, 21, has torched three black churches, and says he was influenced by "black metal" music. The three churches were in the heart of south central Louisiana's Cajun and Creole country and were burned in the span of 10 days. Apparently they don't know this wacko's motive but you might look to his upbringing, especially in this state. It also has a very high rate of gun violence.

And Matthews isn't the brightest, leaving a 2-gallon gas can at the scene and was witnessed leaving the handiwork driving his truck. I guess the man doesn't like Baptists since all three churches were of that denomination. That, of course, plus the fact that he hates blacks. Matthews was active in social media...

"On a Facebook page that appears to belong to Matthews, he was active in black metal and pagan pages. Although both scenes are predominately apolitical, both have large neo-Nazi fanbases. Matthews commented on two memes about Varg Vikernes, a far-right (and self-described former neo-Nazi) metal musician who served 15 years in prison for burning churches in Norway and killing a fellow metal musician."

Which brings up the connection today between so much violence in the world and social media. This country is so engrossed with protecting 1st Amendment rights that one often wonders just where those limits should be set. In other words, is it time to evaluate the 1st Amendment and impose guidelines on when a person has gone too far? Like advocating hate and violence against others. Unfortunately, the current Congress doesn't have the balls to address this.